Cinnamon and Thyme Buckwheat Scones

Every Saturday I go to the market and buy buckwheat flour. Since first finding it at one of the bakery stands a few months ago, this has become a weekly ritual of mine.

The first time I bought it I rushed home and used it in a different scone recipe. It was leaps and bounds beyond the buckwheat flour I buy at the store. This stuff was light, fluffy. Fresh, in fact. It was a total game changer. Honestly, I was almost shocked at how well this flour worked even without cutting it with a different flour. Most buckwheat recipes you find are usually some blend of buckwheat flour and something else. But this one was fantastic on its own.

The next weekend I asked the baker about it.

“It’s amazing,” I said. “It’s so unlike what I get at the store.”

“Well of course it is,” she said, smiling. “The producer mills it himself, every week.”

I went home and look up where this mill was located. Less than 100 miles from me. Locally milled buckwheat flour.

I know, it’s easy to roll your eyes at the mention of “locally milled flour.” But let’s talk about flour for a second. Most industrial flour these days is completely stripped of all of its nutrients, in an attempt to make a flour that’s bright white and can sit on the shelves until the end of time. But flour, no matter what grain or seed or nut it is made from, should be fresh. That’s why there are many people nowadays either milling their own grains or purchasing their flour from operations that source their grains and mill locally.

Milling flour is nothing new. Grain has been there since the beginning, with emmer and einkorn wheat domesticated some 12,000 years ago. So it would make sense that if we’re trying to get back to basics, buying locally milled flour isn’t so ridiculous after all.

Now let’s return to this wonderful buckwheat that I buy every week. Things have gotten so out of control that I had to special order 5 kilos to pick up next weekend. Not kidding. But buckwheat (which is actually a seed and not a grain) is such an amazing base, whether your trying to do gluten-free baked goods or not.

These scones were made with the intention of being both sweet and savory. They are as good with marmalade as they are with roquefort (for those not in the vegan crowd). Why thyme? Because I have a pot full of it on my balcony, and while it makes its way into plenty of dinners it rarely makes it into baked goods. I didn’t want it feeling left out.

I cut these out with a cookie cutter, because it felt in line with the season (it’s February people… I had to do something heart-shaped) but you can just as well bake them in rounds.

Now, go find some locally milled buckwheat flour. Or, just go the old school route and grind it yourself. It can be done in a coffee grinder after all.

Cinnamon and Thyme Buckwheat Scones

Makes: Two rounds, or about 10 scones cut out. It’s also a good recipe to cut in half if you need to make fewer, as they’re better served fresh.

Ingredients:

2 cups (8 1/2 ounces, 240 grams) buckwheat flour

1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces, 50 grams) natural cane sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup (60 ml) olive oil + 2 tablespoons

2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped

1/2 cup (120 ml) non-dairy milk (or regular… your choice!)

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

Combine the buckwheat flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl and mix together. Add in the olive oil and work together until you have a crumbly mixture. Mix in the thyme.

Slowly add in the milk and work together until you can form the dough into a ball. If you are baking in rounds, shape two rounds, place them on a greased baking sheet and carefully cut each round into fourths.

If you are cutting the scones, on a lightly floured surface, press or roll the dough out until about 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick. Cut out the scones and place on the baking sheet.

Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool enough so that you can pick them up with your hands. They’re best served warm.

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Oh, and that gorgeous tea towel that the scones are on? That’s thanks to Mama Brones who designed and wove it herself. It’s good to have a mother that provides cooking and creative inspiration.